Tyson Chandler Reflects On His Knicks' Tenure

An appreciation for what he did in New York

Though he doesn’t play very much anymore for the smallball Houston Rockets, 37-year-old former Knicks center Tyson Chandler still acts as a mentor and quasi-coach off the bench. After an exciting win for New York Monday night, Chandler was happy to reminisce about his three-year tenure with the team.

“I had a beautiful time when I was here, on and off the court,” Chandler said. “We had a lot of amazing people, but I think just the art of the city. Just the energy of the city. Every time I come here, I get great memories of here again, whether just walking into the arena or running into staff members.”

After winning an unlikely title with the 2010-2011 Dallas Mavericks, the Mavs decided to break their team up a bit during the NBA lockout and traded him to the Knicks before the lockout-shortened 2011-2012 campaign.

“It was a big time in my life when I came here,” he said. “I accomplished some great things when I was here.”

Glenn Grunwald took over as general manager from Donnie Walsh after 2010-2011, and the Knicks went 36-30 under Mike D’Antoni and Mike Woodson. They lost in the first round in five games to LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and the eventual champion Miami Heat, but Chandler ended up winning Defensive Player of the Year that season.

D’Antoni is certainly not known as a defensive coach, and if you looked at the seven-seconds-or-less Phoenix Suns or the current Rockets and thought a DPOY could be on one of those teams, you’d probably look at that person like they were from another planet.

“It’s just more ground to cover up,” Chandler said with a laugh. “It makes you look even better. I felt like I was locked in every season, it just so happened to be the season I won the award.”

From back then until the current day, D’Antoni is still one of Chandler’s all-time favorite coaches.

“He’s an offensive genius,” Chandler said. “I love the flow, even his personality.”

The 36-30 season was enough for Grunwald to be elevated to the executive vice president of basketball operations, and Woodson entered the 2012-2013 season with a new emphasis on strong defense and a novel offensive approach. The Knicks were ahead of their time that season, when they led the league with 28.9 3-pointers attempted and 10.9 makes per game, for a 37.6% rate that ranked 5th in the NBA.

The team led by Chandler, Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Sixth Man of the Year J.R. Smith went 54-28 and finished second in the East.

“Just fun times. Good vets, a good group. And I think the city had a great time during that time. Just a lot of great energy.”

Jason Kidd, Kurt Thomas and Pablo Prigioni were strong vets on a team that included 22-year-old Iman Shumpert starting 45 games. The Knicks ousted the Boston Celtics in the first round before falling in six games to the Indiana Pacers.

“Our ceiling was a championship,” Chandler said about that team, so he was disappointed in that regard. “We didn’t accomplish that. So you could say we fell short, but that was a good, nice little run.”

That September, Grunwald was replaced right before training camp by Steve Mills, and the Knicks ultimately hired Phil Jackson as team president during 2013-2014. So New York diverted from their offense and missed the playoffs with a 37-45 record.

“It was turnover,” Chandler said. “Different coaches, different GM, different president.”

The Knicks haven’t reached the playoffs since, and Chandler’s June, 2014 trade back to Dallas ended his time in New York. But whenever he comes back to face the Knicks, Tyson Chandler will always have fond memories of his accomplishments and what could have been had the team ultimately stuck to its guns.